Chapter 15: The Pea Rain’s Blessing

“You… why are you here?” Yingning, upon seeing me, was clearly so startled that her words tumbled out incoherently.

The crisis had not yet abated, with over a dozen players still encircling us tightly, leaving me no time to answer her question.

Yingning, still on her side on the ground, gripped the sword in one hand, having not yet managed to rise.

I, meanwhile, was pressed against her, my hands straining to support myself on the ground as my nine tails fanned out, sealing off every blind spot around Yingning, my back absorbing the impact of the fireballs.

“Cough…”

I had still underestimated the game’s immersive realism; I violently coughed up a large mouthful of blood, which splattered entirely onto Yingning’s neck. The crimson liquid coated her pale, jade-like throat and my flowing hair, which cascaded onto her cheek, reflecting the dazzling white light in the night, creating a somewhat tragic and heroic tableau.

My full HP was 180 points; after taking two fireballs with my back, I was left with a mere 48 points, my life hanging precariously.

Yingning, too, had only 15 HP remaining, placing both of us in a practically dying state. Yet, Yingning had finally grasped the one-handed sword, a weapon that could symbolize victory.

I maintained my position, while Yingning, seemingly stunned by my sudden appearance, stared blankly at my face.

The encounter was far from over; a dozen more players still fixated on us, some of their attack skills already in motion.

“What is that!”

“My God!”

“Rain… of light?”

The dense, white lights rushing down from halfway up the mountain had already completely enveloped the area within thirty meters around us, creating a zone of indiscriminate bombardment.

At the apex of each beam of white light was a tender green, utterly ordinary pea! However, imbued with the white light’s blessing, these peas transformed into sharp arrows, one after another! With the peas as arrowheads, they whistled through the air, accompanied by a piercing whoosh!

Even more terrifying, as these arrows traveled further, they did not diminish in speed or power; instead, they grew increasingly dazzling! Bearing several times their initial energy and penetrating force, they ruthlessly slammed into every creature within the covered area!

A sudden flash of insight struck someone, and a skill name instantly popped into their mind.

Despite the sheer disbelief, he shouted it out.

“It’s [Holy Light Blessing]! The most useless low-level skill in the healing tree! [Holy Light Blessing]!”

Holy Light Blessing?!

Don’t be ridiculous; how could that trash skill, Holy Light Blessing, produce an effect like a thousand arrows firing simultaneously?

It was a skill that even an offensive priest would never consider. Its effect was simple: enchant an item, with no cooldown, a 1-second cast time, and a 60-second duration.

Enchantment effect: After the object is thrown, it gains [spell attack power that gradually increases with distance]. Within a throwing range of 100 meters, it adds a fixed 10% of the character’s spell attack power. Beyond 100 meters, an additional 2% of the character’s spell attack power is added for every meter increased. If it hits an enemy, it deals damage; if it hits a teammate, it provides a healing effect.

So, herein lay the problem.

Throwing skills belonged exclusively to warrior-type professions, specifically the [Hunter] class. Priests had no skills related to throwing. Moreover, this enchantment could only be applied to one’s own items and could not be traded to others after enchanting.

This meant that a priest without skill bonuses had throwing abilities no different from an ordinary person. Yet, for an ordinary person, even a well-trained soldier accustomed to throwing grenades for years, throwing an object 100 meters and hitting a target accurately was already extremely difficult.

Let alone exceeding 100 meters.

Therefore, [Holy Light Blessing] was widely considered the most useless skill in history, the most idiotic and unreasonable skill design in the entire game. It had been lambasted mercilessly during the first game content reveal. However, the official statement claimed it was merely an Easter egg skill for entertainment, not a primary priest ability, which finally appeased the players.

In any case, there were many similar Easter egg skills, such as a warrior’s Fireball spell with a 24-hour cast time, or a mage’s Taunt that could only be cast when charging directly into an opponent’s face, and so on.

Holy Light Blessing was indeed one of them.

“…I don’t know why, but this priest seems to have learned throwing skills! Otherwise, it would be impossible to throw so accurately. Moreover, the opponent seems to have learned a [Mass Throwing] skill that no one has ever seen before. Damn it… [Mass Throwing] combined with [Holy Light Blessing] is practically a bug-level playstyle! There’s no need to even consider accuracy! It’s too abnormal! Who exactly is this opponent?!”

In other words, this was every priest’s dream!

“Once that pea-composed meteor shower makes contact with our group, even if it can’t hit our weak points with every shot like before, its strength lies in sheer numbers! As long as every single pea carries the spell damage bonus from [Holy Light Blessing], even if they’re just mindlessly thrown, they’ll still be able to relentlessly pummel us into a hornet’s nest!”

Despite the many exclamations, all these thoughts flashed through their minds in an instant.

This was a team of veteran players who had experienced countless games, well-trained and with incredibly quick reactions. They quickly devised a solution, the only solution available.

Someone shouted hoarsely—

“Enemy attack! Take cover!”

Every crisis had its countermeasure! That’s right! As long as they hid behind cover! As long as they got to places where the peas couldn’t hit, that seemingly terrifying pea rain wouldn’t be able to cause any harm to them! It was a simple yet highly effective solution!

In an instant, all the players decisively chose to cease their attacks, stopping their half-launched assaults on us! They each used their class’s sole acceleration or dash skill, rushing towards various covers at top speed!

The pea rain pelted down with a pitter-patter, hitting the ground and falling upon Yingning and me.

The reaction speed and analytical abilities of these veteran players exceeded my expectations. In reality, it would have been absolutely impossible for anyone to escape such a dense and rapid area attack, but this was an online game, where everyone possessed superhuman abilities!

“Master, run!” I quickly stood up.

Yingning also snapped back to attention, clearly knowing this was not the time for questions, and nodded with a solemn expression.

She understood that whether my appearance was a coincidence or whether this pea rain was my doing, we had no other choice now!

Only to escape!

She had been on the verge of being killed for an entire day, and my appearance brought the possibility of escape, a chance to turn the tables!

Even though we couldn’t kill those dozen people, the pea rain had created a powerful suppressive fire, allowing us to use the cover of the pea rain to break through their encirclement!

The pea rain striking us truly felt like raindrops, each impact causing gentle white light to ripple outwards. This was the [Holy Light Blessing] skill in effect; items enchanted with Holy Light Blessing dealt damage to enemies but only provided a healing effect to allies.

Soon, our health bars were completely refilled.

As I turned to look at Yingning, she was holding a gleaming green one-handed sword engraved with mysterious golden runes. Her body was no longer clad in the simple novice cloth armor but in a full set of green warrior equipment, also glowing faintly with green light.

It was not a heavy plate armor made of metal, but a mithril soft armor, sewn stitch by stitch from mithril threads. It adorned Yingning’s form, accentuating her graceful curves, reflecting the pure white light blasted forth by the Holy Light. Her black hair billowed in the moonlight, creating a stark contrast of black and white.

I felt my waist tighten and my feet lift; before I could even fully register what was happening, Yingning had already scooped me up into a bridal carry.

Perhaps it was because she had touched upon the hope of turning the tide, but her eyes shone as brilliantly and nimbly as stars, radiating a vibrant vitality I had never witnessed in her before.

Yet, the gaze emanating from those eyes was cold and resolute, though when our eyes met, they brimmed with profound heartache.

Yingning, her right hand gloved in mithril, threaded through the long hair at the nape of my neck, pulling me close into her embrace. Her finger, reaching my lips, gently wiped away the blood staining the corner of my mouth.

“It’s time to collect what’s due!” she declared gravely, even as she sprinted away with me in her arms.

Indeed, it was time to collect.

Even though players in this game possessed superhuman abilities that defied human comprehension, it wasn’t as if I hadn’t assassinated superhumans before.

…But could she please put me down first?